Rotherham family-of-six converts bus into home to save £12k a year

Conrad Kirk, aged 31, and his partner, Nicole McCarthy, also 31 and a teacher, bought a 1978 Rod-Bodied Daimler Fleetline double-decker bus in September 2021 for £2,000.

The pair planned to convert the vehicle into a luxury mobile holiday home - so they wouldn't have to fork out for hotel rooms on family breaks.

After completing the renovations, they decided to vacate their three-bedroom rental house in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, and move into the bus full-time with their four daughters - Luna, four, Poppy, seven, Summer, seven and Phoebe, eight.

The idea of leaving their £1,300-per-month rental property and moving into the bus initially started as "a joke” but became a reality when the couple realised they much they could save.

The bus is based in Rotherham, where the children attend school, and moves around the area.

After the conversion - which cost them around £8,000 - the fully-refurbished bus now has a bathroom, a living area, separate kitchen, small garage and an open-plan bedroom with a double-bed and two bunk beds.

Conrad, a media business owner, said: “There was massive help from family and friends offering to support us with advice and knowledge.

“We sort of worked around what was disposable to us to keep costs down - like using recycled bits and reusing some items.

“Companies wanted an extra £6,000 to £7,000 to do our solar panels, but by watching videos and with the help of our electrician, we managed to get it done under £800.”

The couple's little girls were a big part of the conversion as they helped their parents with tasks such as cutting wood and measuring.

Conrad added: “They’ve learned skills that normal kids wouldn’t get the opportunity to learn at school.”

The family now has more than 200k followers on TikTok - where they share their daily adventures and details about their life.

They are often asked how they fit six people in a bus – but the children are at school during the day, and they prefer being outdoors in their free time.

Conrad thinks of the bus as a base unit for their outdoorsy lifestyle.

He said: “We don't lounge in front of the TV - we're out and about doing things with the kids.This weekend, we went paddleboarding and rock climbing.”

He added that the children have experienced many outdoor activities for the first time while living in the bus.

They have also met lots of new people through their lifestyle and become more social, he says.

“We have the freedom to actually go and experience things as a family that we didn't get to do before," Conrad said.

“It’s been great for us because we’ve been very anti-social before.”

Conrad’s plan for the future is to save up to £10k in the next three to four years to be able to buy land and build a home for themselves.

He said: “We have the freedom to actually go and experience things as a family that we didn't get to do before Trying new things and spending time outdoors have become quite a big bit of our lifestyle now.”